Smile Pretty Cure: Happily Ever After
by Midoriri
Summary: The world isn't black and white. Pop knows something about the Bad End Commanders that will change the predicted outcome; Miyuki must face bad endings and her own feelings; and a new enemy only complicates things. -Smile PreCure AU-
1. Chapter 1

Even after it was clear that Emperor Pierrot and the Bad End Kingdom were still active, the fairies did not hide. They didn't stay in their homes and lock the doors anymore, the kingdom no longer resembled a ghost town. Pop was grateful for that much, at least.

Oh, they were still frightened, of course! How couldn't they be, with their queen still in a coma, their enemies still at large, and...

Pop approached three female fairies sitting by the side of the road. They resembled small cats, and two were clearly meant to be twins, though one of them wore a red rose behind her ear. A third wore a pink ribbon with a red apple-shaped charm as a decoration.

The twins were patting that one on the back.

"It's okay, Snow. You'll be able to see him soon, aka."

"That's right, shiro! Pretty Cure will make things right, and your story can go on like it should, and you'll get to meet the prince again!"

Snow just sniffled, wiping her eyes with a lace handkerchief with apples embroidered on it. "I j-just don't u-understand," she sobbed. "Why is th-this happening?"

"Snow White, Rose Red. Snow," Pop called out as he drew closer. He and the trio regarded each other with worried expressions, Snow hiding the lower half of her face in her handkerchief. "Have you seen any sign of them since-"

Snow shook her head. "N-No! We saw the wolf bu-but..."

Pop deflated a bit, expression downcast. Of course. He should have known they wouldn't have wanted to...Not after...

_I should have done more. I should have been there._

His tiny gut tightened a bit as he imagined it; five disappointed faces staring down at him, cast in shadow.

_"Pop, how could you have let such a thing happen?"_

_"It's so mean!"_

_"How could you!?"_

_"You're so cruel, Pop!"_

_"You let them down!"_

_"I'm ashamed to call you Big Bro, kuru!"_

"Pop, desu?" Snow's voice snatched him away from his too-vivid (and quite likely, inaccurate) imagination an back to the present reality. The fairy stared at him with shining black eyes that still looked on the verge of tears. "Our s-stories...mine, Hood's, Momo's, they can't go on without them. We were wrong, we were t-terribly wrong, desu. And it was too cruel, what we did...Can you find them, desu? Bring them home, so our stories can go on, a-and...and we can tell them we're sorry?"

Pop drew in a deep breath, and nodded.

"Of course, de gozaru."

But of course...they'd been missing for months. Pretty Cure's visit had been weeks ago and the missing fairies hadn't returned to Marchenland.

It was a task easier said than done.

* * *

"I'll meet you at the gate soon, everyone~!" Miyuki said, waving at her friends as everyone filtered out of the classroom. She held her bag over her shoulder as she turned to go in the opposite direction of everyone else.

"Where are you going, Miyuki?" asked Reika.

"Probably to see if that book got returned yet," Akane said, smiling in an exasperated (but still affectionate) manner.

"Ahaha, I've been asking about it all this week!" ...and all last week. And last. Well, more like as soon as they'd gotten back to from summer break. Miyuki put her hand behind her head sheepishly for a moment, then grinned and pumped her fist. "But today it'll definitely be in, I can feel it~!"

Her friends just smiled, laughed, or wished her luck (in Yayoi's case) and a moment later, parted ways. Not for long, of course – Miyuki would head to the library, ask after the book, and then head back to join the girls, regardless of if it was in or not.

On her way down the hall towards the school library, Miyuki heard her bag unzipping, and a moment later Candy poked her head out. "Miyuki, what book is it again, kuru?"

"Hans Christian Andersen stories!" Miyuki said excitedly. "He wrote The Little Mermaid and The Little Match Girl – I don't like those two very much because they have such sad endings. But he wrote a lot of other stories, too, and I heard the librarian saying someone asked them to order a big collection of his stories!"

"Wooooow!" Candy's eyes were shining.

"Yeah!" And so were Miyuki's. Well, for a moment anyway. After her response to Candy, she sighed, deflating slightly. "But I guess whoever asked for it _really_ wanted to read it...It came in three weeks ago, got checked out the day it came in, and it hasn't been returned yet!"

She wondered who had borrowed that book, who'd asked the librarian to order it. Someone who loved fairy tales and stories as much as she did, of course, but what was that person like? Miyuki hoped she could meet them soon; anyone who loved stories was a good person and would get on with her great, she just knew it!

"Oh, Hoshizora," the librarian chuckled as Miyuki strolled in (Candy tucking back inside the bag just in time).

"Hi!" Miyuki laughed. "I'm here for-"

"The Complete Work of Hans Christian Andersen?"

"Yeah, that's ri – eh?" Miyuki and the librarian turned to the spot further down the desk. One of the student librarians was looking at the computer, frowning deeply and shaking his head.

"You're a week overdue, Murasaki. If you'd renewed it, it'd be another matter altogether but at this rate...you're about ready to start paying overdue fees."

"I know...I'm s-sorry."

Miyuki's focus went from the student librarian to the girl he was talking to. The girl, Murasaki, stood with her head ducked slightly, a light pink blush covering her cheeks as she nervously ran her hands over one of her long, thick purple braids. She wore a thick purple jacket with a hood over her uniform – was she cold? Motion caught Miyuki's eye and she looked down to see Murasaki rubbing the back of one leg with her foot.

"I'm sorry," Murasaki said again, quietly. "B-But I uhm...m-my friend wanted t-to see i-it too and h-he hasn't-"

"You lent a book you already borrowed to someone else?!"

Murasaki flinched. "Sorry..."

The student librarian sighed loudly, taking off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Fine, fine, but tell your friend to give it back before tomorrow! There are other students who want to read it, you know. Like Hoshizora over there."

Murasaki blinked, and then turned to look over at Miyuki. She blushed a little more when they locked eyes. "O-Oh...sorry, Hoshizora...I'll r-return the b-book s-s-soon..."

"H-Hey, hey, don't worry about it," Miyuki reassured her, chuckling. Murasaki was a bit edgy, wasn't she? It was just an overdue library book, nothing _too_ bad! Besides, this was over a book of fairy tales, right? Miyuki had to admit she'd probably keep her book a bit longer too. "You'll just bring it back tomorrow, right?"

Another blink, and Murasaki glanced away, looking back at the ground. "Y-Yeah..."

The student librarian sighed again. "Just bring it back. Tomorrow. Okay?"

"I-I will. So-sorry." With that, Murasaki turned and hastily left the library, cheeks still tinted pink.

After a brief moment, Miyuki went after her.

* * *

In the hallway, the purple-haired girl slowed her steps and sighed. Jeez...they didn't have to make a fuss about it. "I was g-going to return it, r-really..." she mumbled to herself.

It was just...well, some things had happened, one thing led to another...

_"Ehhh? This one doesn't have a happy ending at all!"_

_"It what?! I gotta see this!"_

_"Let me see that!"_

Amaya sighed wistfully. "I hope it's in one piece," she murmured.

"You like fairy tales too?"

Murasaki jumped, whirling around to see the girl from before approaching her with a smile on her face. She blushed faintly, looked down, and started to toy with one of her ribbons again. At first it seemed she wasn't going to answer at all. Then, finally, she nodded. "U-Uh-huh..." She looked at the other girl again. "I r-really am sorry. A-About the b-book...H-Hoshizora, right?"

She nodded. "You can call me Miyuki!"

"E-Eh, really?" Murasaki looked away again, toying with her braid. "Then...I'm A-Amaya. M-Murasaki Amaya."

"Nice to meet you!" Miyuki stuck her hand out. Amaya just stared nervously at it, tugging her braids until Miyuki slowly put it back down. "W-Well...my friends are waiting for me outside, so I'll see you around!" With a wave, she jogged down the hallway, leaving Amaya to slowly wave back.

* * *

"They didn't have it," Akane laughed as soon as Miyuki approached the gates.

"Akaaaaane..." Miyuki couldn't help laughing too, despite the teasing. It was all in good fun, really. "No, but I found out who checked it out! And she promised to bring it back tomorrow!"

"Yeah, kuru!" Candy's head poked out of Miyuki's bag. "I heard them talking! She likes fairy tales too, kuru. And that's why she didn't bring it back all this time! Hm, she'd sounded a lot quieter than Miyuki though, kuru," she added thoughtfully. Hm, honestly she'd expected someone who loved fairy tales as much as Miyuki to be just as, well, energetic as Miyuki.

Although now that she thought of it, maybe two of Miyuki would be too strange.

Thank goodness Majorina had never invented something like _that!_

"So at least I can read it then. I hope her overdue fee isn't too big. I had to pay one of those once and it was awful!" Miyuki was saying.

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Akane!"

* * *

In Marchenland, Pop made another mark on a calendar. Two weeks until the next full moon. Two weeks and he could try again. He could try to bring his friends back...

He only hoped Candy and the others would be forgiving when he told them what was happening.


	2. Chapter 2

There was no sunshine in Bad End Kingdom.

It was always night, with a large moon. Dark clouds filtered across, blotting out most stars. As a result, the kingdom itself looked darker and more foreboding. But that was alright. Villains were supposed to like the dark. Wasn't it in all the stories, that villains and witches lived in dark, sinister castles? That they stayed in the shadows, amongst the cobwebs?

So it was fine that Bad End Kingdom was so frightening-looking.

The residents certainly didn't seem to mind, at least.

And one such resident was thumbing through a book by candlelight.

Which, as the two others noticed, was highly unusual, considering it wasn't a s_pell book._

"Oi, Majorina," Wolfrun grumbled. "Isn't that just a story book? What're you reading _that_ for?"

"Another scary book, oni?"

They both recalled how, just last week, she'd tried to trap Pretty Cure in Bad End Space and had scared them halfway to death by recreating some school legends. The book she'd apparently been inspired from had been found just sitting on the floor of her room, and the guys had briefly flipped through it out of curiosity.

Akaoni had taken a candle with him everywhere for three days, and Wolfrun avoided looking in mirrors for two.

"Not today, dawasa!" Majorina grinned widely and closed the book, keeping her place with a finger, and showed her partners the title. "This book is incredible! It's full of Bad Endings, and not ones _we_ made, dawasa!" She cackled quietly to herself, opening the book again to keep reading. "Look at this; a toy soldier and a paper doll fall in love-"

The other two made loud groans of irritation and disgust.

"-but then the soldier melts and the doll burns to ashes, dawasa!"

"Ehhh?!"

Majorina had to quickly leap away from her seat at the table to avoid being crushed by the other two. The wolf and _oni_ had suddenly lunged for the book, and only succeeded in smacking into each other and falling on the table, sending it to the floor. After a brief second of struggling, disentangling limbs, and a few cries of "Watch it, stupid!" and "Me?!" they darted forward to where Majorina stood with the book.

Wolfrun grabbed it first, quickly flipping through it, reading a few handfuls of text. "Turned to stone forever, melted, dead, dead, seafoam...Look at all these Bad Endings!"

"I wanna see too, oni!" Akaoni snatched it back, nearly tearing the book in half with his brute strength.

"I was looking first!" snapped Wolfrun.

"I was the first one reading in the first place, dawasa!"

"Tsk. Is this _any_ way for Pierrot's soldiers to behave?"

The trio stopped struggling with the book at the sound of an even, cool voice. Standing above them, a hand on one hip, brows raised (at least, it _looked _as if he was was raising his brow – the mask made it pretty hard to say), was someone they didn't care to see right now but couldn't afford to disrespect.

"Joker-!" Majorina let out a squawk of indignation as the harlequin plucked the book from all of their hands. "That's mine, dawasa!"

"Mmmm..." Joker brushed her off, holding the book open one-handed above his head, the pages flipping by themselves. He seemed to be studying it intently, the mask's eyeholes shifting slightly as he read.

And then he smiled. "So many bad endings~" he said. "It must have been quite hard to find a book so full of them!"

"Well, actually-"

"It won't be that way for long, though." His smile widened, and the book snapped shut. "You've gathered a lot of Bad Energy; and given so many fairy tales a Bad Ending. We're on the right path."

The trio glanced over to a shelf of books against one of the walls, all three of them feeling a flicker of pride in their chests.

The shelves were stocked with numerous fairy tales; Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, Cap o'Rushes, The Elves and the Shoemaker...If Pretty Cure had only thought to examine the books they'd always smeared with Bad End Paint, if only they'd taken the books away from them, they would have noticed. And maybe they would have been able to prevent the characters inside from suffering Bad Endings.

But they didn't. And things were slowly working out in Bad End's favor, the scales were tipping. Prince Pop in Marchenland couldn't correct _everything_, and certainly not in time.

The elves would hurt their fingers and ruin the leather, and put the shoemaker out of business.

The prince would get lost in the forest forever and never find Snow White or the dwarves.

The queen would never guess the little man's name, and lose her baby.

Cap o'Rushes would never find employment at the castle, or anywhere else; but wander aimlessly forever.

And this was just a _few_ of the works they were altering. Imagine what things would be like for Bad End, for _them_, when Pierrot awoke, and all the stories ended like this!

"Even with Pretty Cure, we've made so much progress," Joker said, a note of pride to his voice. "Congratulations, you three!" he added, clapping his hands.

"But this isn't a visit just to praise you for meeting expectations. I'm here because there's been a _slight_ change in plans."

The trio, having finally disentangled themselves and retaking their places at the broken table, eyed Joker suspiciously. "What sort of change?" Wolfrun asked.

"Something very simple, yet revolutionary~ _From today on, I don't want you to use Akanbe."_

This was met with loud cries of protest, disbelief, and shock. Not use Akanbe? But why not?! The Akanbe were silly-looking, yes, and Pretty Cure _had_ been disposing of them and purifying the noses every time, but they'd been reliable weapons! They'd always used Akanbe, besides, wasn't that why the Decors were all turned into clown noses? To become their weapons of happiness's destruction?

"Now, now, calm down, everyone~" Joker said, in his usual lilting tone again. He raised his hands and patted the air a few times, motioning for them all to lower the volume a bit. "This won't be permanent – and you'll still be collecting Bad Energy~ Just this time, Pretty Cure won't get in our way, and we won't have to deal with them purifying the Akanbe and collecting the Decor before we awaken Emperor Pierrot."

"So...what?" Wolfrun snapped. "We just go to the human world, collect Bad Energy, and leave? That's..." He blinked, the aggressive look on his face slowly fading. "...actually not a bad idea. It's simple, but it seems like it'll work."

"Awwwww, but I'll miss them, oni!" Akaoni draped himself over the table.

Majorina shot him a look. "You'll _miss_ the girls who keep ruining our plans?"

"I'll miss _fighting_, oni! I'll have to smash rocks again!"

"Oh, it won't be _that_ simple," Joker interrupted, another smile making its way across his lips. But it didn't look playful or happy like the first few times they'd seen him. No, this was joyless, dark...it was hiding something. "There are a few other things I'd like to try; a new weapon or two...First, do you remember the books you've tainted?" He gestured again to the bookshelf. "That's part one~

"And part two..."

The sound of footsteps filled the silence left after Joker trailed off, and shortly after, a familiar figure appeared in the door and started about removing their shoes. "I'm home! ...eh?" They paused and finally looked up, sensing the atmosphere of the room.

Joker's smile being faux-pleasant again. "...involves our _newest_ member~"

* * *

"Well, Hoshizora, you're doing a little better in English," Saski Namie said as she passed back Miyuki's summer homework. "I see you've been studying. Good work!"

"Thank you~!" Miyuki smiled as she took the papers back, her smile widening at the large 85 circled in red at the top. It wasn't a perfect score, but it was better than her usual one! She'd have to thank Reika again later, for helping her.

Of course, she thought as she slid the homework into her bag and joined her friends in the hallway, part of the reason they'd managed to get their summer homework done in the first place was because Bad End had been so quiet as of late. It was a little strange, but Miyuki certainly wasn't complaining!

"85, kuru! That's good, right?" Candy asked once they were out of sight of the teacher.

"Of course it's good!" Akane said before Miyuki could answer. "It's a great score!" She grinned proudly at her own English homework – 84 was circled at the top. "Thanks for helping us, Reika!"

"Yeah, I don't know if I ever could've finished without your study sessions in the Magical Library!" Yayoi added with a smile.

"You probably could if you didn't stay up late reading manga and watching _sentai_," Akane teased.

"It was no trouble at all, everyone," Reika said hastily, before Yayoi could react to Akane. "I was happy to do it – it would have been terrible if you all had to stay after school to finish, right?"

They could see it now, yikes. The four of them, alone in the classroom with Ms Namie as she alternate between drilling lessons into them, and scolding them for putting off summer homework so long. It wasn't a pleasant image in the slightest.

"It's pretty lucky we weren't busy with Bad End, too," Nao said. A frown appeared on her face as the group went out the door and headed towards the gates. "It's kinda weird. I haven't seen them or heard of anything weird happening since Majorina scared us in the school, have you?"

They all shook their heads.

"Maybe they're on vacation too?" Miyuki offered. It made sense, after all. Wolfrun _had_ shown up in the countryside, Majorina had been at the town festival, and Akaoni had been surfing at the beach. Maybe they had their own sort of summer vacation. Miyuki briefly imagined Pierrot telling them all to go on their vacation now and remember to do their summer homework.

She had to bite back a bit of a laugh at that.

"I don't mind so much, though. I mean, it's okay, right?" She glanced over at the others, but something else caught her eye as she turned her head.

In one of the pavilions, a girl sat with her back to them. Miyuki couldn't see very much of her that way, but she recognized the purple braids and hooded sweatshirt. She smiled again and stopped, waving an arm over her head. "Ah! Amaya! Hi~!"

"Hm?" Nao and the others looked to the pavilion. "Do you know her, Miyuki?"

"I haven't seen her in class," Yayoi mumbled.

"Amayaaaa!"

The purple-haired girl startled a bit and looked over her shoulder. "Oh...M-Miyuki. Hi..." She stood up, closing a small book and depositing it into her schoolbag as Miyuki reached her. "I uhm...I'm s-sorry, I don't h-have the book for you y-y-yet..." She looked down at her shoes, her face turning a tinge of red. "I'm sorry, I-I keep t-t-telling my friend to l-let me h-have it b-back but...Oh, th-the library f-fines are g-g-going to be so h-high and y-you're probably so m-mad, I'm-"

"Ehhh? Hey, hey, don't worry about it, Amaya! I'm not upset, really!" Miyuki laughed awkwardly, waving her hands in front of herself. "It's okay if you don't have it yet! That just means your friend really likes the stories, right?"

"Well...y-yeah, you could...s-s-say that. She c-can't put it d-down, aha..." Amaya smiled faintly, though she still looked pretty nervous.

"Then I'm not upset! Besides, the wait will make reading it even better!" Miyuki stopped smiling, and took on a look of concern. "You said something about library fines though. Will you be okay?"

"Y-yeah..." Amaya nodded. "U-Uhm...I'm s-sorry, Miyuki, but I'm ex-expected elsewhere and-"

"Oh! Right, I'm sorry! I'll see tomorrow, then?"

Amaya blinked, then nodded slowly. "Y-Yeah...if you w-want..."

"Great! Bye~!" Miyuki waved over her shoulder as she ran back to the other girls, and went for the school gates.

Amaya stood there a bit longer, another faint blush on her face. She lifted a hand as if she wanted to wave, but it was too late – Miyuki wouldn't be able to see that, would she? She sighed and lowered her hand, glancing at the palm. "...Did I m-make a friend?" she whispered.

A tiny smile appeared on her lips.

A tinny beeping suddenly sounded from the pocket of her uniform. Amaya jumped a little, and took out her phone. "He-hello? ...O-Oh, no, I'm n-n-not busy. Yeah...o-okay."

* * *

"You knew her, Miyuki?"

"Sort of! That's Amaya – she's the girl I talked to in the library earlier. Haha, her friend's really into fairy tales!" Miyuki laughed and scratched her cheek. "She lent her friend the book I wanted to look at and they haven't given it back yet. I was just saying hello, but she figured that was what I wanted to talk about.

I'd like to talk to her again, though! We can talk about the book together, that'd be fun!" Miyuki's eyes went shiny. "It's always ultra-happy to talk about stories with someone!"

"Speaking of stories," Nao said, glancing down at Candy. "How is Pop doing? He hasn't called us in a while."

"Big Brother's really busy as usual, kuru!" Candy chirped. "He's working really hard to protect Marchenland, and keep watch over Royale Queen, and reading lots of books!"

"Books? About what?" Akane looked at Candy with raised eyebrows.

Candy looked a bit sheepish. "Er – I actually dunno, kuru. He won't tell me." She lifted her head to look around the group, an anxious look in her large blue eyes. "I've asked but he gets upset and says he doesn't want to talk about it yet, kuru! I think Big Brother's keeping secrets, kuru!"

Reika frowned lightly. "But why would he want to do that? He knows we want to help you save Marchenland..."

"I'm sure he'll tell us when he's ready, right?" Yayoi asked.

Akane shrugged. "Maybe it's nothing. Maybe he's just reading a ton of samurai manga or something."

* * *

Wolfrun grumbled under his breath as he floated high above the city. His arms folded over his chest as he glanced over at his companion in irritation. "I don't see why _I_ gotta be the one baby-sitting," he muttered.

"Mr Joker had said you would be the best option, Mr Wolfrun. You faced Pretty Cure first, you gathered the first bit of Energy, you seem to be the most experienced-"

"Keh. Stop trying to flatter me." His tone was snappish, but there was a faint hint of pride on his face as he smirked. Wolfrun's gaze went to the top of a large building, and within a few moments, he'd disappeared and reappeared atop it. His companion appeared at his side a second later. "Alright. You remember our deal?"

A nod. "You collect Energy. I keep Pretty Cure distracted. I stay out of your way until you give the word."

"Good girl." Wolfrun smirked a bit as he opened the book – a quick glimpse at the title told him this was _The Wolf and Seven Little Kids. _Ah, perfect...wolves needed happier endings, and _proper meals_. "Your white futures will be painted black!"

* * *

In Marchenland, the sun was bright, and the sky was blue and cloudless. The air was warm, as it always was, like a late spring day. Even when it was night, it wasn't truly dark, for the stars and the moon always lit up the sky and made the land look enchanting, not dark or dangerous.

So that was why the fairies suddenly stopped what they were doing, and looked up in terror as their world suddenly darkened. It was as if the sun had just disappeared altogether; some fairies even scanned the sky for it, but it was just _gone_. Eclipsed.

Pop raced out of the castle, fear choking him. _No, no, no...!_

It didn't matter if this was the tenth time or the thirtieth or even the hundredth. This _always_ terrified the young prince of Marchenland.

The fairies were running into their homes when the blot of darkness appeared in the sky, sending out thin, wispy tendrils of pitch-blackness to cover the rest. And then when those tendrils suddenly shot downward and snaked through the kingdom for their target, the real screaming started.

Pop was lost in the fray, turning his head this way and that, heart pounding as he tried to find – there! There they were! Fear rose in his little body, choking him as he ran for the tendrils, following their path. Who was it? Who was it this time, who was it-?!

"My babies!" a goat fairy was shrieking as she pounded on her front door.

Pop's visible eye went wide as he saw the blackness surge through the window, seep under the door, down the chimney...Not the seven kids! A split-second later, his fears were confirmed when there were seven small voices screaming in terror, a few cries of _"Mama!"_ ringing out.

"Stop! Stop!" the goat fairy was sobbing when Pop reached her. "Y-Your Highness-!"

"Stand back, de gozaru! _Ragh_!" Pop slammed his shoulder into the door, knocking it down.

The darkness was creeping everywhere inside the house, slithering into the kids' familiar hiding places – for a moment, Pop swore it looked just like a wolf's head, with vivid red eyes. But he had no time to think about that. "Stay out here, de gozaru!" he shouted back as he ran further into the house. Let's see...he knew all the stories backwards and forwards, so the kids would be...

A table. A bed. The stove. Kitchen. Cupboard. Washtub. Clockcase. Yes, that was it, quickly, go!

"Kids! _Kids_!" he screamed as he ran into the kitchen. Three of them peered out from their hiding spots, their eyes teary. He thrust out one paw. "Get out of the house, de gozaru! I'll protect you, go!"

Outside, the goat mother stood with her hooves to her chest, her heart pounding like a hammer. She let out a sob of relief as the prince appeared again, running for the door as the wisps tried to ensnare him and her seven children. "Your Highness! My babies!" she cried, holding her arms out.

"Mama!" the seven goat fairies cried, just as Pop reached the open door and started to shove them out.

* * *

Candy tensed up, crying out as the sky turned dark blue, a large full moon where the sun should have been. "Bad End, kuru!"

"I was wondering where they were!" Akane said. "C'mon, girls!"

"Candy, stay in the bag!" Miyuki whispered loudly as Candy ducked inside. "After Tanabata..."

True, Candy hadn't been targeted again, but what if?

* * *

Wolfrun cackled as the people in the street fell to their knees, expressions becoming despondent. Various murmurings sounded as Bad Energy was drawn into the book – school was too difficult, shopping was boring, there was no point to meeting with friends if they were graduating this year... "You'll all help revive Emperor Pierrot!"

He spotted several flashes of colorful light in his peripheral vision and his smirk widened. Ah, perfect, they were here...

"We still need more energy," he said, briefly gesturing towards the side, where he'd seen the light. "Go!" he barked.

"Yes, sir." And his companion was gone.

_Let's see just how useful you really are..._ Wolfrun thought to himself.

* * *

"It's Wolfrun!" Cure Happy cried as they drew closer. She could see him atop the shopping center.

"I don't think he sees us yet," March noticed. "Stop right-!"

Something seemed to change just then. Something in the atmosphere. It wasn't something that could be explained really – intuition, perhaps. But in any case, Cure Happy and the others _felt_ something was different before it actually even happened.

"March, look out!" Peace shouted, shoving her friend aside. A second later, a blast of dark energy hit the street, a few inches away from where March had stood. "An Akanbe must already be- huh?"

There...was no Akanbe? And Wolfrun was still standing there with the book, not paying Pretty Cure any mind. Then who-?

A figure floated down to stand atop a lightpost. "That was a warning shot. I wasn't aiming to hit you yet."

Everyone looked to the newcomer – and gasped.

This was...a Pretty Cure? She looked like them, somewhat. But the outfit was all wrong, it was warped, it was...darker.

The girl...Cure...whoever she was, wore a purple variant of the Smile uniform. Her boots were short, going just past her ankles. The fabric behind her skirt split into two coattails, the ribbon that descended from the _gray_ button on her chest had three large scallops, she had no sleeves beneath the black(?!) feathery ones, and her arm-warmers were, oddly enough, different lengths. The one on her right arm went just past her wrist, while the left one went to just below her shoulder.

But that wasn't the oddest thing, of course. Everything that should have been white, was black. The feathers on her sleeves were sharper. The tiara on her head didn't have soft rounded tips, but wickedly sharp points, and the instead of having two angelic wings on either side of it, she had black bat wings.

She blinked her bright lilac eyes, smiling faintly at the girls as the breeze ruffled her clothes and hair a bit. Her hair, of course, was purple – a bright, light purple. It had been divided into two; two hairloops that resembled sharp-cornered bows sat at either side of her head, and the remainder of her hair was looped around the middle of them to form their centers, and descended down to her waist in twintails.

"Another Cure?" Beauty whispered.

"I thought only Candy could..." Peace added. Then her eyes widened a fraction. No. No, she wasn't quite like them. If the uniform wasn't proof enough, there was the matter of her Pact.

At the girl's waist sat a Smile Pact, yes...but it was dark gray and purple, and had a large black crown emblem on it. _Definitely_ not from Candy or Marchenland.

"Who are you?" Happy asked sharply, though not unkindly.

The purple Cure curtsied deeply, eyes briefly closing. "Dark Cure Magica. You're Pretty Cure, yes? It's lovely to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," said Beauty.

"Beauty..." March muttered to herself.

"Now that pleasantries are out of the way..." Magica tensed up, dark energy flickering to life around her hands. "As I said, the first shot was a warning. Next time I'll actually try to hit you."

"But who are you really?" Happy asked, a little higher-pitched. "Why are you helping Bad End Kingdom if you're a Pretty Cure?!"

"I'm helping them help everyone else!"

"Bad End is _evil!"_ Sunny protested. "That's why we're trying to stop them!"

Something changed in Magica's expression. "If you're trying to stop them..." She suddenly lunged forward, the dark energy creeping up her arms. "Then I'll have to prevent that!"

* * *

_"Mama!"_ the seventh of the goat kids shrieked as she was yanked away from Pop and back into the house.

"Nana!" cried her mother just as Pop shouted _"No!"_

The little goat disappeared into the darkness, which suddenly took the form of a giant wolf head. Before anyone could react, before Pop could save her, the wolf's maw snapped shut over her, her shrill cry of _"MOMMY!"_ cut off.

In Bad End Kingdom, a large clock moved forward one more space.

* * *

The girls scattered, leaping away from the purple Cure. Cures Happy and Sunny looked up to where Wolfrun stood. They were in the air, above Magica's head. If they ignored her and went for Wolfrun, maybe they could-

_"Stop!"_

Suddenly, dark energy appeared in front of them, and Happy smacked into a barrier face-first. "Ah! Hapupu..."

Sunny pounded the shield with her fist. "Wh-what is this?!" A quick look around confirmed her fears – Magica had erected a large dome around the six of them, keeping them away from Wolfrun. "Lower this!"

"I told you..." Magica whispered, a few beads of sweat on her brow. Was keeping the shield up that much exertion? "I have to keep you away from Mr Wolfrun."

"I said _lower this!"_ Sunny roared, fire flaring to life around her fists. She surged towards Magica, drawing her fist back to swing, but Magica leaped away in the nick of time. Not soon enough, however, and Sunny's fire burned through one of her arm-warmers.

Magica hissed in pain, bringing her injured wrist closer to herself.

"Sunny, stop! She's our age!" March yelled. She ran towards Magica then, thinking about what Magica had done earlier. _Warning shots. Don't aim to hit her – __**warn**__ her. Disarm her._ She aimed a kick for a few inches away from the girl's side..

But Magica was apparently done with warnings, as she brought her hands up to seize March's ankle, and _pulled_. March let out a yelp of shock as she was swung like a bat, and crashed right into Sunny.

"Stop it! Everyone stop!" Beauty was yelling.

"Stop it!" Peace added. Ohhh, she couldn't take this anymore! _"Pretty Cure Peace Thunder!"_ she cried, aiming for a spot just above Magica's head.

Her aim was a little off, however, and the attack struck Magica in the chest. _"KYAAAAAH!"_ the girl shrieked in pain as she was electrocuted, stiffening for a few seconds before her legs buckled. She threatened to fall to her knees, only staying upright through strength of will. "A-Ah...ah..."

"O-Oh no!" Peace gasped, moving closer to her. Her hands were held in a placating manner. "Are you alri-"

Magica suddenly stood up again, gasping faintly. And then Wolfrun's voice filled the dome she'd made.

"Magica. I've got the Energy. Let's go!"

"What?!" Happy shrieked. "No way!"

The dome of darkness fell just in time for the girls to see Wolfrun teleport away with a smirk in their direction. Magica, still trembling in pain, curtsied again. "We'll meet again," she said simply, before she too was gone.

The Bad End Space vanished, and the people slowly stirred, blinking and rubbing their heads. What were they all doing on the ground? Why did they feel so depressed...?

Miyuki and her friends stood there, back in civilian form, unable to believe what had just happened. Wolfrun had appeared...and no Akanbe? And...and what about that new Cure? Who was she _exactly?_ What was _happening?_

Miyuki looked back over her shoulder at where her schoolbag sat on a bench. Candy poked her head out, staring in shock.

"What...what's going on, kuru?" she whispered.

* * *

In Marchenland, the darkness seemed to churn and swirl a bit, before rocketing back into the sky, where it sped off elsewhere. Marchenland grew a bit brighter again, but the once-sunny and perfect day was overcast.

In the goats' home, there was no little goat fairy.

Pop grit his teeth and lowered his head. Then he dropped to his knees, kneeling in shame before the fairy and her six remaining children. "I...I can't even begin to apologize, de gozaru," he whispered in a rough voice.

The goat mother sobbed weakly, so one of her children had to ask the question. "Wh-where's Nana?!"

"Nana's... been taken to Bad End Kingdom, de gozaru..." he whispered again.

Around him came loud gasps of horror.

* * *

In said kingdom, Wolfrun appeared at the entrance to the castle, book in hand. He smirked again as he read over the new ending. "And so, when the mother goat returned, the wolf made a meal of her too. Much better, rufufu!"

He glanced to his side, noting how Magica held herself and was gently blowing on her wrist. "You didn't do half-bad, brat," he said. "Looks like they got you, though."

"I-It's nothing!" she said hastily.

"Uh-huh...c'mon, let's see if we can do something about that burn." Wolfrun began the walk inside.

The dark Cure nodded and closed her eyes as a flash of purple light enveloped her.

Then, Amaya removed her shoes and carried them inside after Wolfrun. "Y-Yes, Mr W-Wolfrun."


	3. Chapter 3

They had to speak to Pop.

"Something's wrong," Nao said that evening, sitting cross-legged in the Magical Library. "We would have known about a new Cure – _Candy_ would have known," she added, with a glance at the fairy in question.

"And aside from that, her outfit looked so different," said Yayoi. She frowned lightly, chin resting on the large pillow she was hugging.

Miyuki nodded mutely before looking out the window. "...never thought I'd see it dark in here," she murmured.

She couldn't remember being in the Magical Library at night before – this was everyone's first time. It was dark when they'd arrived, clad in pajamas and carrying some blankets, their pillows and school uniforms. It was actually quite lovely, they'd agreed privately, staring high above and seeing what looked like the faintest twinkling of stars overhead, the sliver of a moon. Reika and Nao had set about lighting some lanterns the clubhouse seemed to _miraculously_ have in stock, and placed one of them in the middle of the circle the girls formed in the loft area.

Yes, it was a little unusual for them to arrange an impromptu sleepover in the Magical Library, but then again, their afternoon had been unusual. And they all needed to speak to Pop, at once.

"You think he'll answer, Candy?" Akane asked suddenly, frowning. "It _is_ kinda late."

"He's never not answered, kuru."

"Yeah, I guess..."

Miyuki inserted the Phone Decor into the depression on her Smile Pact. There was the familiar glow, the little triangle of light...and nothing else.

Everyone exchanged worried look. "Maybe he's already asleep?" Nao ventured.

"But Big Brother's always awake when I need him, kuru! He answered when I talked to him about your school trip, kuru, and he answers when I have a bad dream in the middle of the night, and-"

"Ehhh? Candy, you have bad dreams?!" Miyuki gasped and picked up her fairy friend, holding her at eye-level. This was news to her! Candy had always been such a peaceful sleeper, and when Miyuki caught her napping, she always looked like she was having nice dreams. "How long has this been going on, Candy?" she asked, brows lowered.

"Yeah, you never mentioned bad dreams!" Akane added.

Candy just smiled, but it looked a bit lacking. Her little arms came around to meet at her front, and she looked at a corner of the loft as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. "It's nothing, kuru! You shouldn't worry about it-"

"Candy." Reika's voice was gentle as she cut in, but it held a strong edge to it, similar to her voice when she was getting the classroom to come to order. "Candy, we're friends, right?"

"...right, kuru."

"If you have nightmares, you can talk to me, or any of us, okay? We want to help _you too, _Candy; you're our friend.

Besides, we went to Bad End Kingdom to save you, remember! Talking about some scary dreams will be a piece of cake compared to that!" Nao laughed a little.

"What about scary dreams, de gozaru?"

"Pop!"

"Big Brother!" Candy whirled around and hopped off Miyuki's hands to rush over to the Smile Pact. "How are – ehhhh, Big Brother doesn't look so good, kuru!"

Pop's form had finally appeared in the little light, but Candy was right. If Miyuki didn't know better she'd swear Pop was having some nightmares himself. (But maybe he was?) His mane looked a bit disheveled, he was rubbing one of his shoulders, and there were some faint lines and shadows around his eyes.

In other words, he looked a mess.

"Ahaha, it's nothing, de gozaru," he said, his paw moving from his shoulder to the back of his head. "It's just been so busy, taking care of Marchenland and all-"

"You do not look like you have been sleeping well," Reika interrupted. "...Pardon me."

"Pop, if this is inconvenient for you-" Yayoi began. The others hastily agreed, guilt suddenly weighing in their hearts. If Pop was too busy, or maybe having nightmares himself, as Miyuki suddenly wondered, _maybe_ this could wait til a more reasonable hour.

"No, of course not! I mean – no, it's no inconvenience." Pop drew in a deep breath, squared his shoulders as best a tiny lion-fox fairy could, and tried to look calmer. Not that easy, considering his overall appearance. "It's never an inconvenience to talk to the legendary warriors, de gozaru. What did you need?"

Everyone started talking at once.

"There was a new Cure – a weirdly-dressed one!"

"I've never seen her before, who is she? Were there supposed to be six of us after all?"

"There wasn't an Akanbe this time, Wolfrun just took Bad Energy and left!"

"I don't remember anything about six girls, kuru!"

"There was nothing for a while and now this happened-!"

Reika, who was actually the only one _not _speaking, clapped her hands sharply. Everyone stopped and looked over to her, but she wasn't looking at any of them. Instead, her calm, no-nonsense gaze was leveled at Pop, who looked just as confused and startled as the girls. "There are, honestly, a few things we do not know about," she said.

No one else spoke up as Reika continued. "There was an unfamiliar Cure this afternoon, dressed in purple and black. There _is_ a purple gem on the Smile Pact, but we did not even realize there could be a new Cure. Moreover, she seemed to be working for Bad End Kingdom."

Pops one visible eye went wider at that. A Cure working for Bad End? It was unheard of!

"There is something else we want to know more about, but it may be best if we discussed this matter first."

"I..." Pop blinked, swallowed. "I have no idea, de gozaru!" His paws came around to his chest, tapping together as he furrowed his brow in thought. "There were surely only five pieces of-" He stopped.

The others leaned forward, curiosity piqued. But they all remained silent, prompting him to continue.

"As I...was saying...only five Smile Pacts appeared, only five were expected, de gozaru. At least, that was what I had always been told. There shouldn't be _able_ to be a sixth Pretty Cure, least of all one for Bad End Kingdom. They...they must have found another way!" He lifted his head. "Do you know who she is, de gozaru?"

"She called herself Cure Magica," Nao supplied. "But we've never seen her before today."

"Hm. That doesn't really tell us anything..." Pop muttered, looking despondent. "Anything else, de gozaru?"

"She had, uhm, shadows on her arms," Yayoi said.

"The power of darkness..." Pop muttered to himself. "That's still not quite enough information..." He drew in another deep breath, looking right into Miyuki's eyes. "Miyuki, should you meet this Cure again, you should be on your guard. Be _very_ careful, de gozaru."

"Huh? Why-"

"Darkness directly opposes light, de gozaru. As Cure Happy, you have the power of holy light – currently she's a new Cure, a beginner, but in time, you and she may be evenly-matched. You must take care not to let the dark overwhelm you, de gozaru."

Miyuki blinked once, then nodded. It was kinda a weird thing for him to say, she thought to herself, but she couldn't ignore his concern.

"You said 'five pieces,'" Akane said suddenly, raising her hand as if she was in school. "Five pieces of _what?"_

Pop fidgeted slightly, then sighed again.

"The Miracle Jewel, de gozaru."

* * *

"So. How was she?"

"Ehhh?" Wolfrun scoffed a bit as he folded his arms. _"That's_ what you summoned me for?"

"Why not? It's a reasonable question, right~?" Joker sat on the railing outside the castle, casually tossing an Akanbe Nose from one hand to the other. The whole time, he never once looked at his hands, always keeping eye contact with Wolfrun. The wolf had to admit, this was _sorta_ impressive. "After all, if there's a new soldier, shouldn't I ask the _seasoned veterans _about her performance?" A flick of his wrist, and a second Akanbe Nose appeared to join the first. "Especially if you're to work together? It wouldn't do for you all to hate each other, right?~" He smiled disarmingly, tilting his head somewhat.

Wolfrun shrugged. "She's okay," he said.

"Just okay?"

"She did what you said she would do. She kept Pretty Cure distracted while I collected Bad Energy, I didn't get attacked _once, _we came back. That was it!" He paused, then shrugged. "She got hurt, yeah, but-"

"And did she keep going?"

"Eh?"

Another flick of the wrist, and then Joker was juggling three Noses, still not breaking eye contact. "Did she keep fighting even after being hurt?"

"I dunno, okay? It was right before I told her we were done!" Wolfrun growled a bit in irritation. "Satisfied? I've got somewhere important I need to be!"

Joker simply raised an eyebrow in response to _that_ little tidbit, but nodded, smiled broadly. "Yes, I'm satisifed~ Thank you for your time, Wolfrun!"

Wolfrun turned to walk away.

"Oh, and Wolfrun?"

"Hm?" He turned around...and saw Joker juggling _five _Noses.

"_Do_ come to me if there is any trouble." Joker titled his head again, the black eye-shapes on his eyes turning to thin slits, as if closing.

Wolfrun made a noise in his throat and stalked off again. _Showoff!_

* * *

In the Magical Library, the girls were staring in shocked silence, Pop's last words hanging in the air. _The Miracle Jewel._

"Wait a second!" Akane finally said. "Wolfrun said he and the others were looking for it! In Marchenland, we were told it could grant any wish, and had to be found too! Now you're telling us it's broken? What gives?"

"It's...it's a bit of a long story-"

"Tell us!"

Pop sighed, bot in disappointment or irritation, but in a resigned way. As if he was kicking himself for letting that little thing slip out. "Alright...Let me explain, de gozaru.

"The Miracle Jewel _did _exist, a long time ago. It was just as Aladdin said; it would grant a single person any wish, no matter how great, or destructive.

"Royale Queen was just a princess at the time, but her mother, the first queen before her, feared the Miracle Jewel's power. Or rather, she feared what it could be used for. Nothing could or should have so much power, she said. So she decreed that no one was to _ever_ use it, and she would remove it from its place in the throne room, and lock it away so that it could never be used or seen by anyone.

Many understood. Others did not, de gozaru. Those others were angered by her decision, and vowed to find its location, and use it for their own desires.

"One of those, was Emperor Pierrot, de gozaru.

"Emperor Pierrot invaded Marchenland one day, intent on finding the Miracle Jewel. He did, in the royal treasury, and tried to take it for himself. The current Royale Queen was defeated – she was growing old, weaker, and had only a percentage of her strength.

Royale Princess, however...

"When Pierrot tried to take the Miracle Jewel, the princess and four other girls smashed it to pieces with the sheer strength of their will, de gozaru. Each of them took a piece, and used the small amount of power in that tiny piece, wishing for the power to defeat Pierrot. Those pieces then changed form...

"So really...Royale Queen, or Princess as she was then, and those four girls were the first of Marchenland's Pretty Cure, de gozaru."

There was a collective intake of breath.

"The five girls – now Pretty Cure – created the Princess Candles from the strength of their hearts, and seal him deep in the earth. His subjects were invited to live in Marchenland, and became our villain fairies. Over time, the Smile Pacts and the pieces of the Miracle Jewel disappeared; only to reappear when Marchenland needed help once more, de gozaru." Pop smiled at each girl in turn, then at Candy.

She was just staring in stunned silence.

"It was a very long time ago, however...And the only people in Marchenland who know the truth are those closest to the Royale family. As far as the civilians know, the Miracle Jewel is still intact, hidden away."

"But why?" Reika asked. "Why not tell Marchenland what happened? Why did you not tell us sooner?" She didn't sound accusing, or angry. Just genuinely curious.

"If Bad End Kingdom is looking for the Miracle Jewel, it would be best if they didn't know what really happened to it, de gozaru," Pop explained. "If they knew, they would try to take your Smile Pacts, or the Smile Decors that the five pieces became – you wouldn't be able to transform or protect anyone. This way, your Smile Pacts are protected, and Bad End goes on a wild goose chase, de gozaru.

I didn't tell you at first because I thought if you were just as ignorant, it'd be safer." He closed his eyes, looking ashamed. "But that was a foolish thought. You're our legendary warriors, our _friends. _I should have trusted you with this earlier."

During this whole time, Candy had been quiet, staring at Pop's image with wide eyes. Even as some of the girls were glancing at her, as if they wanted her to confirm Pop's story, she didn't speak or take her gaze away from him. But now she spoke. "Why didn't you tell _me_, Big Brother?" Candy blurted out. "I didn't know this either, kuru!"

"I thought you were too young, de gozaru." Pop looked sheepish again. This was definitely not the peaceful evening he had hoped to have. "As your big brother, I have to protect you from-"

"But Marchenland's my home, too, kuru!" Candy said, tears gathering in her eyes. "I want to protect it too! I need to know what's going on, too, kuru! You sent me to find Pretty Cure, you should trust me, Big Brother!"

Pop looked down. "I know. I'm sorry, de gozaru..."

"And what about Joker, kuru? He took me away that time, and asked about the Miracle Jewel and- a-and if you'd told me about it earlier, maybe it wouldn't happen, kuru!"

Yayoi bit her lower lip. Actually...considering how fast Joker was, what he had shown himself to be capacble of, she had a horrible suspicion that it would have happened _anyway. _

Nao apparently thought the same thing, as she voiced this aloud in a gentle voice. "And you would still have to say you didn't know...you still would, wouldn't you, Candy? To protect your friends, like we were going to protect you?"

Candy clenched her little jaw, sniffling. Yayoi simply reached over to pat her head, unsure of what else to say.

Pop refused to look at any of them, his eyes shut tight, mouth twitching a bit. He seemed to be trying to shrink himself a bit, his shoulders hunched up and his head bowed.

Miyuki smiled faintly, moved closer to the little triangle of light. She lifted a hand as if she wanted to pat Pop in reassurance, but stopped. It wouldn't work anyway, and what if she cut off the connection? "Pop...you can trust us. How about no more secrets from now on? Okay?"

Pop hesitated, then nodded. "Okay, de gozaru..."

"Pop. You can tell us anything, you know," Reika said. "You do not have to try to do things by yourself, you do not have to keep secrets. We are your friends and we will _help_ you."

He nodded again. "I have to go now, de gozaru," he said hollowly. He glanced at Candy, visibly flinching at the way she still refused to look his way. "To keep...working.

But I want to request something from you all first."

Akane blinked. "Yeah?"

"Keep fighting Akanbe, if more appear...but please, don't attack the Bad End Generals. _Please."_

"O-Okay, but why the sudden-"

"I have to go now."

"Pop, wait-!"

Too late. The light vanished, as did Pop's image.

Akane sighed loudly, pressing a hand to her forehead. "There was still more we coulda asked him about!"

"Well, it _is_ kinda late..." Nao said quietly. She absently reached over to pat Yayoi's shoulder, as the blonde girl was holding her head like she had a migraine. Nao couldn't blame her. This was a surprisingly big amount to take in! "We'll let him rest, and ask again later. At least we're still a step ahead of the bad guys, right?" she said with a grin.

"I guess so..." Miyuki said. She scooted back to her original position, crawling under the blanket. She hugged Candy to her chest, patting the fairy on the back of her head. "...Candy, are you alright?"

Candy said nothing. The other girls lay propped on their elbows, looks of concern on their faces.

"Candy?" Yayoi whispered. She reached out one arm, gently touching Candy's back. "Are you still upset? About Pop, and Marchenland?"

After a moment of silence, Candy nodded, then sniffled.

The girls fell silent, Miyuki idly stroking Candy's back as the latter began to softly cry.

* * *

He'd done it again.

It would all come back to haunt him later, but...Well, sometimes lies were funny that way. Telling the truth was far more painful, forced you to face the fact that you messed up, and badly at that. And the longer you kept pretending it wasn't real, the longer you only told part of the truth, or lied by omission, the more painful it was.

But...

Pop briefly imagined the looks of disgust and anger on Pretty Cure's faces. The betrayal on Candy's face.

It was painful enough in his imagination. What would it be like in reality?

"It'll be fine, de gozaru," he said. As he spoke, he passed a large window, then doubled back to gaze out of it.

Marchenland was pretty at night. The various little houses, cottages, mansions in the kingdom were spread out below him. Many of them had lights in the windows, but others...

He saw the house that belonged to the goat fairy and her seven children. One bedroom window was conspicuously dark.

So were many others.

He looked off to the forest. He was still so used to seeing yellow eyes stalking among the trees, or a tiny fairy sweeping up gingerbread crumbs from her stoop, or hearing the faint **thuds** of something heavy smacking a stone.

Those three had disappeared first. And then, slowly, the others were being taken away, too.

_When Candy had been kidnapped, he'd told the girls to return to their homes and families. That he would go after her himself. _

_It' been all his fault. If he'd told them what he'd known, what secret Royale Queen had entrusted him with...if he'd better prepared and protected Candy... It was his fault, he couldn't bear to drag others into a mess he created. Not when they had their own problems._

"I can still fix this," Pop whispered. "It was my mess, de gozaru, I can still fix it."

* * *

In Bad End Kingdom, Wolfrun sneezed. "Geh, it's too damp in this place...I must be catching a cold."

Majorina muttered something under her breath about idiots and colds, and held out an apple to their newest ally.

Amaya shook her head. "N-No, thank you..."

"Suit yourself, dawasa." And she took a large bite out of the poison apple; as the two boys watched in barely-concealed disgust.

"S-So, did Mr Joker say I c-could st-stay?" Amaya asked suddenly, leaning forward and looking to Wolfrun.

Wolfrun shrugged as he turned his attention back to that 'very important thing:' the newest episode of Iron Warrior Robotaa. "Didn't say ya couldn't."

Amaya sighed, shoulders slumping as she smiled and laid a hand on her chest. "Th-that's good...Th-that m-means I c-can still h-h-help you all!"

"Hey, hey, you know what this means, oni?" Akaoni suddenly brightened up. When the others simply stared at him blankly, he grinned, all teeth, and went on. "No Akanbe, no Pretty Cure, just gathering Bad Energy without a fight, oni...

"We get to goof off way more, oni!"

"Yeeeaaah! Free time!"

"We have all the time in the world to collect Bad Energy now, dawasa! Thank you, Magica!"

Amaya just sat there, smiling awkwardly at the three of them. "U-Uhm...y-you're welcome?"

* * *

_Author Notes: And here we have our biggest divergence so far from canon! I honestly thought more could have been done with the Miracle Jewel; the fact that it was kinda a non-issue up until the final few episodes was a let-down... I think even the idea of it breaking to become the first Smile Pacts and Princess Candles was better than the treatment canon gave it.  
Even so, there are some other things to explore, new mysteries..._

_Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I apologize for it being mainly exposition. I hope you continue to enjoy this fanfic as much as I'll be sure to enjoy writing it._


	4. Chapter 4

Akane yawned loudly as the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. "Ugh, I'm tired...You know, we should see if there's a Decor that can summon beds or more couches or something. Sleeping on the floor's no fun," she muttered.

"But it was kinda fun to sleep at the Magical Library," Yayoi said. "E-Even under the circumstances..." She glanced at Miyuki's bag, where Candy was still inside.

The fairy hadn't wanted to come out or talk to them all day. They'd woken up that morning, prepared for school and had some quick breakfasts, but Candy hadn't wanted to do anything. Miyuki had asked her if she'd like some of her pancake, and Candy...

"I'm thinking," she'd said, sounding a little sad and grumpy still. "I'll eat later, kuru!"

Of course, she'd _said_ that but a few minutes later she still popped out to swipe a pancake off Miyuki's plate.

So at least she wasn't _totally_ not herself this morning.

"Give her time," Reika said softly, as if reading Yayoi's mind. She laid a hand on her shoulder gently, smiling in reassurance. "Candy has been given a lot to process. Everything will work out in the end."

"I hope so," Nao muttered.

There was a quiet knock coming from the doorway, and the girls looked up in time to see a purple-haired girl peer into the room. "U-Uhm...e-excuse me...i-is Miyuki h-here?"

"Amaya~!" Miyuki smiled and jogged over to her. "What brings you here?"

"W-Well, y-you wanted this book, r-right?" Amaya smiled nervously, and held out a thick, softcover book to Miyuki. The front cover had been torn near the bottom, and Amaya had clumsily tried to fix it with scotch tape. "S-Sorry about the c-cover...M-My friend got a l-little upset by o-one of the endings a-a-and got c-carried away...I h-had to pay two f-fines for it," she sighed a little at the last part, blushing in embarrassment.

"That's okay! It still means your friend really cares about stories, right?" Miyuki took the book and flipped through it briefly. Ah, the pages all seemed to be fine, so there was no harm done. "Hey! Do you wanna hang out a little today? I'd love you to meet my friends!"

Amaya shook her head. "I-I'm sorry, M-Miyuki, but I h-have to meet someone e-else today...Another t-time though?"

"We could eat lunch together tomorrow," Akane called out.

"Yeah, that's an idea!" Miyuki smiled. "What do you think?"

"U-Uhm...that sounds f-fine."

"Great! See you then, Amaya~!" Miyuki smiled and waved her off as Amaya bowed out of the classroom and hurried down the hall.

"She seems nice," said Yayoi.

"Little jumpy though," added Nao.

* * *

"I'm home!" Amaya called out, stepping through the door. She walked down the hall, shoes in her hands, passing by the TV room. She could hear the TV playing a rerun of the previous day's Iron Warrior Robotaa, Wolfrun and Akaoni arguing over who should get it between them, Majorina declaring she wanted to watch _her_ shows now. She paused briefly in the doorway, but none of the three noticed her.

She continued on her way, frowning lightly. Mm...they had decided to take a break from collecting Bad Energy, after all.

_But if they do that...Then how is Mr Pierrot going to wake up?_ She couldn't help but worry.

If Mr Pierrot couldn't revive, then her friends couldn't have happy endings.

If her friends couldn't have happy endings, a story where they were the victors, they'd be sad and miserable forever.

Right?

Wolfrun had been loving the book she'd borrowed, until he found a happy ending. Normally it wouldn't bother him _quite_ so much, but after finding a lot of unhappy endings, endings where the villains won, and having come to expect it...

Amaya rubbed her hand, where a thin scratch was healing. It hadn't been easy, wrestling the book away from him before he damaged it worse than he had already.

He'd be even more sad and mad if there were no 'happy villain endings.' So would the other two.

And Mr Joker would...

There was a loud laugh from the tv room, followed by some cheering. Warubutta must've been victorious for this battle. The familiar end-credits music started up, the boys were still cheering, and Majorina was loudly saying it was her turn now, the police drama was starting in two minutes.

Amaya's hand strayed to her chest, tightly gripped the fabric of her shirt.

Without Bad Energy, they wouldn't be able to be so carefree. Mr Pierrot couldn't wake up and give them happy endings. They couldn't live as happily as other fairy tale figures could. They'd be in this dark and scary place forever, always be the bad guy, never win...  
The boys had been so happy when Warubutta won, in this episode. Even knowing that next time, Robotaa would probably get some new power and then defeat him, that one victory had made them so happy. What if that was taken from them? What if they never got a victory?

She wandered outside, to one of the balconies near the corner of the building. There were some smaller buildings down below and in the distance, and many of them had lights on. If she squinted, she could see some darker shapes moving around – probably more denizens of Bad End. If Mr Pierrot didn't wake up, they wouldn't get any happy endings either...

There were a lot of people who'd be affected by that.

Amaya's hands gripped the railing tightly.

They should really get to work on collecting Bad Energy, even _with_ her presence. For their own sakes! They were having a lot of fun, though...Maybe they needed a vacation.

...maybe she could do even more for them.

"Maybe, I could..." she mumbled.

"Oh~? What's our princess thinking about?"

"Kyah!" Amaya jumped, turning to look to the side. There, half-lying on the railing as if it _weren't_ just an inch wide, his back against one of the corner pillars and his arms folded over his chest, was... "M-Mr Joker?" He hadn't been there a second ago!

He just smiled, head tilting to one side. "Hm? You looked deep in thought. What's on your mind?"

"U-Uhm..." Amaya stepped away from the railing, taking a moment to curtsy awkwardly. "I was thi-thinking...About the Bad Energy?"

"Oh?"

"W-Well...about h-how..." She twisted her fingers around each other, her eyes shifting to look anywhere but at Joker. For a second, she thought she heard the tv, but it was too far away for that, right? "A-About...thinking I sh-should contribute more!"

He had already been smiling, but it seemed to widen a bit. "Were you? How initiative of you!"

"Th-thank you...and w-well, what I was really thinking was...m-maybe I should collect Bad Energy?"

He smiled even wider than ever and hopped off the railing to stand in front of her. "Again, how initiative! And how intuitive of you...I was thinking of asking if you'd like to do that, anyway."

"You were?" she lifted her head, blinking in surprise.

Joker smiled, bending a little to be closer to her level and patting her head. "Oh, my, yes! Emperor Pierrot needs all the help he can get to wake up and bring Bad End Kingdom back to its former glory, you know. That means all five of us will need to work hard and gather Bad Energy and information on our enemies."

Amaya flinched a bit at 'enemies.' Joker pretended not to notice.

"Which means..." He waved his hand once, and Amaya's gray Smile Pact appeared in it. As she briefly checked in her jacket pocket with wide, startled eyes, he activated the switch to open it, and placed her Decor – a purple bow with a black flower center - into the recess. In a flash of purple, Amaya was Magica, staring at her employee in surprise. "You have full permission to collect Bad Energy, my dear~"

"But...How do I do that?" she asked, taking her Pact back. "I need a book, don't I? And that paint stuff-"

"No, no, only the other three can do that. You, Magica, just need this." A flick of the wrist, and a new Decor appeared between his index and middle finger. At least, it was the size of a Decor. It looked like a small orb, filled with purple and black energy that was constantly shifting around inside itself. "Put this in your Smile Pact, and simply concentrate on gathering energy from those around you. It will be hard at first, but with enough practice, you'll be a master."

He took Magica's wrist and brought her hand towards himself, palm up, and gently pressed the new Decor into it. "Whenever you are ready, my dear, though just between you and I...Pierrot won't like to wait for too long."

"Yes." Magica's fingers closed around the Decor, and she curtsied again, smiling in determination. "I'll go now, Mr Joker! I won't let you down, you or Mr Pierrot!" With that, she teleported away, leaving Joker waving farewell at thin air.

He smiled again, teeth showing.

* * *

"Wow, these are so sad!" Miyuki cried, almost literally, as they walked down the sidewalk.

"You really shouldn't read and walk at once, Miyuki," Reika said. "You might walk into something, or miss a 'Do Not Walk' signal."

"It's fine! I've done this since I was eight!" Miyuki said. "But really, look at all these! The ballerina and soldier die in fire, the match girl freezes to death, this girl turns to stone...I've never seen so many sad endings in one place!"

"Yikes...are you gonna stop reading?" Akane asked with a frown.

"No way! If I read these sad endings, I'll appreciate the happy ones even more!"

"If you say so..."

* * *

Dark Cure Magica stood on a pedestrian bridge, overlooking the street. A few people were milling about down below, engrossed in their own lives, their own problems...People with problems were perfect for draining Bad Energy, right?

Magica bit her lip. "I can do this..." She opened her Smile Pact, inserted the Decor...and concentrated.

"_Imagine them all giving you their energy," Joker said. "Picture it flowing out of them and into your Smile Pact..."_

Her eyes squeezed shut, and she tried to do what he'd said. Imagined black ribbons of energy, pulling out of the people below, entering the Smile Pact at her waist. Imagine them collapsing to the ground in weakness, but it'd soon be alright, it'd be alright...

Someone below fell to his knees, his eyes closed. "What's the point in working anyway?" he mumbled.

Picture it, focus on it, make the image clearer...

Another person fell. "There's no use in getting a good grade."

Clearer. As if it's right before your eyes.

"Even the closest friends will fight..." two girls murmured.

Magica cried out, her own legs nearly buckling as she hugged herself. She was doing it! She was getting Bad Energy! But...

It felt cold. Why was it cold, why did it feel so strange?

She drew in a deep, shaking breath, leaned on the bridge's railing for support. The Bad Energy was being drawn into the Smile Pact, but she couldn't stop now! She had to get more energy, for her friends... No matter how much her blood felt like ice water.

* * *

The sky suddenly darkened into a deep, dusty violet. Black stars and dark, long and thin clouds were overhead, despite it being in the afternoon.

The girls gasped, seeing people around them fall into despair. "Bad End space!" Nao cried.

"But I haven't seen one like this!" said Miyuki.

Akane frowned. "Not like..." Her eyes widened. "I think I know who this is! And she's up there!" she announced, pointing at a spot in the distance.

Atop a bridge over the road ahead, they could see a person standing, with a dark aura flaring around them.

* * *

Magica smiled tiredly as she hugged herself, rubbing her arms to try and dispel the chill around her. Bad Energy was still flowing into the Pact – this was great, surely this would be enough to revive Mr Pierrot! It had to be!

"All this Bad Energy will revive Emperor Pierrot!" she gasped out, smiling despite everything.

"What are you doing?!" cried a voice.

Magica whirled around with a startled gasp, nearly losing her concentration. There in front of her was- "Pretty Cure?!" She grit her teeth, one hand straying to her Smile Pact. "I...I don't wish to have a quarrel today...But if I must-"

Happy shook her head. "No, not that! We can see you're gathering Bad Energy but-"

"Look at _you!_" March gasped, a hand over her mouth.

Indeed, the dark Cure didn't look so good from their perspective. She was half-leaning on the railing, her legs were slightly bent, and she was rubbing her arms as if she were cold. Actually, she might as well be cold – her skin was a little pale, and she was shivering, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She just blinked and looked herself over as if surprised by this statement. "Yes...I'm a Cure," she said simply, sounding numb.

"Not that _either!" _cried Peace in alarm. "You have to stop what you're doing, right now!"

Magica grit her teeth. "Why? S-So you can...nn...so you can just stop Mr Pierrot from waking up? So you can let him stay in his coma forever?"

"That's not—!"

"That's why you want to stop us! You don't w-_want_ to have a good life! You don't _want_ people to achieve their dreams! That's what Mr Joker said!"

Beauty frowned, and stepped forward, one hand extended as if she wanted to touch the girl's shoulder. "Magica, what did that man tell you?" she asked, voice low. "Did he tell you to gather Bad Energy like this?"

"Do you know what it's doing to you?" Sunny asked, frowning. None of them remembered seeing the Bad End Generals like this when _they_ collected Bad Energy. "Is that supposed to-?!"

"Stop it!" Magica cried, hugging herself tighter. "Mr Joker and the others told me everything! You want everyone to be miserable, you want all the fairy tale villains to suffer for no reason, you want everyone on earth to just suffer and never get anything they desire! You don't want anyone's dreams to come true...that's why you're trying to keep Mr Pierrot asleep forever!"

"What?!" Happy gasped, involuntarily stepping back. Then, her expression hardened slightly, and she approached Magica, noting how the other girl was looking worse and worse the more she got worked up. By this point, the Bad Energy had stopped flowing into her Pact, but she still looked weak, sick, ready to collapse at a moment's notice.

...she looked _sick. _Not hurt, but _sick_. That was probably the worst thing.

Bad Energy...was like poison.

"This isn't true. You're a Pretty Cure, aren't you? You have to understand, none of us want that. We want to protect peoples' smiles, and revive Royale Queen, and save Marchenland. We don't want to hurt anyone – whatever they told you is a lie!" She reached out to touch Magica's shoulder, expression softening.

She was...just a girl. Someone their own age. Happy hadn't really had time to dwell on it the day before, with Magica attacking them, but she was just someone their age. If she grew up on Earth, they would have gone to school together.

She shouldn't be doing this, she shouldn't be suffering.

"You're the wrong ones," Magica murmured, covering her mouth with a hand and flinching away from Happy. But she didn't look angry as she said this; she just looked upset. "You're wrong, Mr Joker told me so...I saw it myself, too."

"What-"

"I – I wish we didn't have to fight but as long as you can't see that you're all wrong, that's how it has to be," she said softly. "Hopefully you'll all open your eyes and see that, and then we can be friends but until then..." She lowered her hand to her Pact again. "...You'll thank me later!" she declared, and then vanished.

The sky returned to normal, and the people below stirred awake, blinking in the sunlight.

The five girls, now back to their normal selves, looked at each other in confusion and dismay.

What had all _that_ been about?

There were far too many questions, and not enough answers.

* * *

Magica shivered in the night air as she stumbled back into Bad End Kingdom. She kept hugging herself, rubbing her arms to try and warm them. That had been...unpleasant.

Bad Energy...it felt like a slow-burning cold that started in her chest and spread throughout the rest of her body. It made her throat sting and freeze, made it hard for her to speak without shivering or stuttering on her words. It made her feet drag, made her brain sluggish. It made her want to cry, made her want to throw up, it made her...

It felt like worrying sick over something, and hating at the same time. The people she took it from would be better without it, they'd feel more energized and happier for sure, and they appeared to only feel the despair that came with Bad Energy. But to draw it in, and take it into one's self – it was supposed to go straight to the Pact, but she felt like it was being drawn right into her heart – felt much worse.

Despair. Worry. Sickness. Terror. Hate. Anger.

All of that slowly burning and freezing her veins and heart at the same time, making her weak and tired and just want to lie down...

Wolfrun looked up as she entered the room, raising his brow. "Oi, wondered where you went," he muttered, turning his attention back to the TV.

"I...I was..." she wheezed.

"Oh, you've collected so much Bad Energy~!" came a familiar voice.

"Joker!" Majorina yelled as he appeared out of a playing card she'd been about to set down. "You ruined my solitaire game, dawasa!"

"What do you mean she got Bad Energy, oni?!" Akaoni said. "I thought only we did that!"

"Hm, nope~" Joker said. "I was telling our little wicked princess here, she needs to gather some too. And my, what a good job she's done!"

"H-Has the clock moved forward then?" Magica asked, smiling weakly.

"No, I'm afraid not," Joker sighed, folding his arms. "It hasn't moved at _all._"

Her smile vanished abruptly. "But...But I got so much..."

"Then...it looks like you'll need to gather even more." His expression became serious as he leveled his gaze on her. "Won't you?"

Magica stared for a moment, brows curved downwards, mouth slightly open. But...but she'd felt so miserable and cold and awful and...And she still felt cold and hopeless and _scared_ and her stomach was still churning, and she'd have to do it again? She didn't want to do that anymore, this feeling was awful, it-

"Well?"

After a moment's silence, Magica lowered her head. "Yes, Mr Joker..."

He patted her head, smiling again. "Wonderful~ Well then..." He straightened up, briefly glancing at the others. "Keep up the good work, everyone! Don't disappoint Emperor Pierrot by slacking off!" Ignoring how Akaoni suddenly looked a bit guilty, he vanished in a flurry of cards.

Only when she was sure he'd left did Magica sink onto one of the cushion seats and turn back into Amaya.

"Eh? Magica?" Majorina stood up, frowning a bit.

"You wanna bucket, oni?"

"Don't coddle the brat," Wolfrun muttered, keeping his gaze on the little TV.

Amaya shook her head, breathing shakily until she pulled the Smile Pact out of her pocket and set it on the table. "I'll...I'll b-be okay..." she said, managing a tiny smile.

"You look green, oni!"

"I'm fine, really..." Amaya swallowed and hugged herself again. "I'll...I'll k-keep collecting the Bad Energy for you all..." She zipped up her hoodie and tucked her hands into the sleeves.

It was _still_ so cold yet burning.

* * *

**Author's Note: **My apologies for a lack of actual development in this chapter, but this was one final thing I wanted to get out of the way; Magica draining Bad Energy. What's Joker planning with all this anyway, hmmm?


End file.
